How the exhausted Warriors slowed down MVP candidate Jokic, high-powered Nuggets
SAN FRANCISCO Playing their third battle in three different cities in four nights and the Warriors first home challenge in two weeks every athlete was tired after Golden State s - mastery over the Nuggets at Chase Center on Friday night Even Draymond Green I just want to go home Relax go to sleep I m tired Green noted Green had every right to be exhausted after a contest that saw Golden State - remain in the fifth seed and avoid the dreaded play-in slot Aside from the grueling schedule that saw the Warriors play the second night of a back-to-back after finishing a six-game two week road trip with one of West s top teams Green had just finished battling with MVP candidate Nikola Jokic He s tough to guard after five days off Green mentioned A lot tougher to guard on a back-to-back where he s sitting in San Francisco waiting on us to get back Jokic put up points rebounds and nine assists on -of- shooting but Golden State held his association to well below its point per challenge average The Warriors also held Denver to its lowest point total since they put up just points in a March loss to Minnesota and tied for its seventh-lowest output of the season Golden State also forced turnovers Related Articles Warriors look happy to be back home beat Nuggets in doable playoff preview Steph Curry Jimmy Butler to play in Warriors-Nuggets meeting Podziemski s big night for Warriors in win over Lakers could be sign of things to come Curry Podziemski go off power Warriors to thrilling win over LeBron-Doncic Lakers Gary Payton II Jonathan Kuminga near return to Warriors rotation So how did the Warriors slow down up-tempo Denver and Jokic after giving up a -point quarter He had a great first half we changed particular things try to send chosen bodies and we were flying around on defense Steph Curry explained after scoring a game-high He s a great participant and he still got his numbers but I think we tried to make him work The Warriors mixed it up to keep Jokic off-balance The Warriors threw a zone look at the Nuggets center who is averaging a -point triple double this season in the second quarter Jokic is the best athlete in the world announced Kerr who pregame compared the Serbian big man to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I ve never seen anybody like him and you have to try to change up certain things a little bit We just tried to throw a little something different in that second quarter after what he did in the first The Warriors threw a number of bodies at Jokic Green and forward Gui Santos each got a crack at Jokic but the bulk effective defender ended up being the dependable Kevon Looney In minutes of playing time Looney scored seven points and seven rebounds but his greatest contribution could not be counted The veteran center battled with Jokic in the second half walling up in single-coverage and not allowing Jokic to draw fouls just three free throws attempted Those possessions may not have shown up in a box figure but they were appreciated by his teammates Everything that Loon does usually doesn t show up in the stat sheet declared Gary Payton II who returned to the lineup after missing four games with a thumb injury But Loon is one of the essential pieces of the motor that keeps this unit going at the highest level Playing at the highest level is something Golden State is proving it can do having won its fifth match in a row the last three to Western Conference playoff teams seeded above them With Golden State only turning the ball over times against the Nuggets the Warriors have shown they know the formula for beating Denver should the teams match up in the postseason Taking care of the ball allows us to set our defense and we re a pretty good defense when we re set Green mentioned
